Super Sensitive

[zodgory]

Tried to take my 5-year-old cousin to see Wreck-It-Ralph. 'Twas a giant bust.


I should've seen the signs that it wouldn't go as planned, but I had my blinders firmly attached to my head tonight.

First warning signs:

• I had to coerce him to go to the movies. When I asked him if he wanted to go, he immediately said no. When I asked why, he asked if it was going to be scary. I told him it had Sonic in it (knowing that it was his favorite character at the moment), and that I'd be there the entire time. He seemed more convinced by this and agreed to go.
• He was sick. I'm basically an asshole for not considering his personal wellbeing here. He was sniffling and had a hoarse throat. Taking him out probably wasn't the best idea in the first place.
  
• My mom took forever. I have to take my mom to her night classes, and she had procrastinated on her homework. So instead of leaving at 4:30 to catch a 5:00 showing, we ended up leaving at 5:00 to catch the 5:40 showing. This slight delay does matter.

Despite all of this, we made it to the theater where another barrage of signs hit us:

•  The employee at the register didn't discount us. I know tickets are expensive, but I also know that kids under the age fo 12 get a discount. My cousin is five and doesn't look older than double digits. So tell me why the ticket still cost us as if we were two adults? I should've checked right then and there.
•  We both had to use the restroom. I'm a girl, and he's a boy so I had to take him with me because I'm not risking him getting kidnapped, and I couldn't hold it. It's awkward standing in a corner waiting for him to finish and infinitely more awkward to pee and wipe as fast as I can before risking him whipping around due to his short attention span.
• The movie started late. It got all the way to the "Please Silence Your Cell Phones" screen that comes on before the previews. Then it stayed there. For about six minutes. We left to go tell a manager, and then it felt like another six minutes before the thing started.

So the projector finally gets under way. Good, right? Nope

• I underestimated how sensitive he is. The loud noises freaked him out, and he constantly had his hands over his ears. I told him that he had to get used to the sound, but that didn't work.        
• He gets scared easily. He is five, but I forgot how scared small children can get no matter how big of a front they put up. There weren't tears or anything, but the second a live action preview would come on (The Hobbit and that Oz prequel), he would cover his eyes. I have to admit it hurt my nerd pride that The Hobbit sent him diving for the covers. The Oz fear baffled me as I remember being a small child who wore that tape out. Then again, everyone's different.
• He just wasn't into it. This was essentially the biggest ice breaker. After all of these things, and what I thought was excitement, he just didn't seem to enjoy the movie. He sat there looking like he was depressed the entire time, and the only time he got happy was when Dr. Eggman and Sonic (briefly) showed up. No laughter. No chatter. He freaked out during the Hero's Duty part and told me to be quiet when I laughed. Maybe he enjoys movies differently, but I've seen that kid watch stuff he enjoys. This was not the face of a kid who was enjoying himself.

So you know that time delay I brought up? It came to bite me on the butt. His dad gets off work at six, but I guess it takes him until seven to get going to our place. I get a call from both of my uncles (our uncle and his dad), and when I step out to call them back, my cousin asks to come back. Then he asks the question that putes a frown inside of me. "Can we leave?"

I knew it would be a losing battle to convince him to stay, and I figured I might as well get my money back if he didn't enjoy himself. Thank God, they did give me a refund. Normally, they wouldn't since I guess the movie was almost over (which upsets the movie lover in me), but since I kept insisting, they did. I really would have taken the movie passes, but I doubt he wants to finish the movie.

So in the end, he claims that he just wanted to see his parents. Understandable since we left so late, but I can feel that he just didn't enjoy himself.

Oh well. I'll just keep taking him to the park. That's free.